New mother Flora MacKenzie and her brother Fintan are working themselves half to death to get it ready in time for Christmas. The reason I wanted this book is that it’s part of a series about some people who live on the (fictional) island of Mure, in the Scottish Highlands. Na alle gebeurtenissen in de vorige boeken was ik erg benieuwd naar de ontwikkelingen in de levens van alle geliefde personages en samen met een vriendin las ik dit boek in één dag uit.

The characters were not particularly memorable, but there were some quite interesting subplots and I was intrigued to know how it would continue. I was seriously ready to pack my bags and head to this small Scottish island, but then I remembered how cold it was. First off I must admit, I am new to Jenny Colgan, and I have not read any of the other books in the Island series, so this is my first introduction to the Island of Mure and it's cast of off putting inhabitants. We are constantly expanding our range of books, social stationery and calendars, with all the leading publishers and suppliers.Die Story war ganz nett, was mich aber massiv gestört hat, war, dass die Autorin sich offenbar nicht mehr an die Namen ihrer Charaktere erinnern konnte. Not realizing this was book 4 in a series it took a bit to sort out who was who and their back story. Things like this just weren't necessary and were confusing to me as a well-established reader of the series. But there are some good subplots too - will Dr Saif ever find out whether his long-lost wife is still alive…? While this book is part of a series, I had no trouble reading it as a standalone, and didn’t feel lost.

Right from the very start of the book, I was scratching my head trying to figure out who the Bookers were.

Finally, the fact that all the characters seem to have no understanding of media, let alone social media, is baffling. The Rock – the rambling, disused hotel on the tip of the island – was Colton's passion project before he died. What on earth moved Colgan to incorporate the highly sensitive topic of refugees and their relationships in a way that felt deeply insensitive and superficial? However, Flora has difficulty remaining still and she wants to help her brother Fintan fulfill the dying wish of his husband, Coltan, and open the Island Hotel for Christmas.

Their romance has the depth of a dinnerplate, and they fall in love in the space of 5 weeks, knowing nothing about each. Op een gegeven moment kan Flora het niet meer aanzien en besluit ze haar zwangerschapsverlof af te breken om hem te gaan helpen - dat ouderschap ging haar man Joël toch al beter af dan haar. There are a plethora of characters and relationships that have been developed over the past three books, and starting here would be like joining a family reunion where everyone knows each other except for you. I was given ‘Christmas at the Island Hotel’ last Christmas, and although it’s not remotely seasonally appropriate, I decided to read it over the past few days.

macht den Eindruck, dass das Buch schnell geschrieben wurde, um das derzeitige Interesse an der Serie auszuschöpfen. It wasn't just small things, some characters who have been in the entire series now have different first or last names. Flora is supposed to be on maternity leave from her business, the popular, ‘Seaside Kitchen,’ which is doing fine without her. I don’t like the assumption that people are going to leap into bed at the first hint of attraction - it’s not something I’ve been aware of in any of my circles of friends and acquaintances, and there seems to be rather a lot of it in this book, albeit (thankfully) without any intimate details.

I felt the need to review because I was so wrong about this book, and hope others will give it a chance too! Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling novels and has won various awards for her writing, including the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance, the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award and the RNA Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year Award.I loved soo many characters (Flora, Gaspard, Konstantin, Isla, and of course Agot and Bjårk) and just wish Mure was a real island I could go visit. I’ve read several - a friend remarked that I have quite a collection given that I’m not a huge fan of her writing. But running a hotel is far from easy, especially with the staff consists of a temperamental perfectionist of a chef, a kitchen boy who doesn’t know how to pee a potato and a shy kitchen assistant who can’t stop herself from blushing whenever anyone tries to so much as talk to her.